Product Description

This well-written new edition contains a healthy balance of explicit and implied calculation. It updates the notation to bring it in line with modern usage and adds new example exercises.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #134140 in Books
• Published on: 2005-02-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Customer Reviews

Clear, well-integrated introduction to vector calculus
This text provides a systematic introduction to vector calculus in a very readable, informal format. Key concepts like divergence, curl, gradient, line integrals, surface integrals, Divergence Theorem, and Stokes Theorem are introduced in the context of investigating solutions to electrostatics problems without requiring the reader to be especially familiar with physics. I particularly enjoyed the humor that is woven into the text. ("Thus, the anguish of remembering the form of curl F in Cartesian coordinates can be replaced by the pain of remembering how to expand a three-by-three determinant.") I would highly recommend this concise book to students of physics, engineering, and mathematics. It is particularly suitable for self-instruction.

Clear, intuitive pictures for vector calculus operations
I used the first edition of this book during a vector calculus course at M.I.T. way back in 1980, and it gave me exactly what I needed. The book describes vector operations in a very straightforward manner, and gives an excellent sense of what Green's theorem, Stokes' theorm, and the Divergence theorem are all about. Since then, those sorts of vector calculus operations have never been a problem.

Nonrigorous yet thorough explanation of vector calculus
This book is excellent for understanding the basics of vector calculus: divergence, curl, gradient, Stokes' Theorem, Divergence Theorem, surface integrals, etc. Most vector calculus texts gloss over the big picture of vector calculus with mathematical rigor that is usually too abstract for non-math students, preventing many from truly understanding vector calculus. Schey's book keeps the math to a minimum and makes sure the basic concepts of vector calculus are thoroughly, yet concisely, explained. The book is also nice to have as a future reference tool.